Method of and apparatus for making continuous lenghts of railway-track rails.



No. 727,657. PATENI'ED-MAY 12, 1903;

I GEE. MARK. METHOD 01-" AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING oommnous LENGTHS 0FRAILWAY/TRACK RAILS.

' APPLICATION FILED IEB. 19, 1896.- N0 MODEL. a 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

m: Noxms vzrsns cc. Pnomuma. WusmNGTON. u. c.

PATENTED MAY 12,1903. 0. B. MARK.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING GONTINUOUS LENGTHS I N0 MODEL.

0F RAILWAY TRACK RAILS.

- APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 19, 1896.

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\ I ...-:B mllll 1/ "III UNITED S A ES PAT Patented May 12, 1903..

OFFI E.

CHARLIE E. MARK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING CONTINUOUS LENGTHS OF RAILWAY-TRACKRAILS.

SPECIFICATION torming'part of Letters Patent No. 727,657, dated May 12,1903. Application filed February 19,1896. Serial No. 579,876. (Nomodel.)

To on whom it may macaw.-

Be it known that LQHARLIE'EQMAR a citizen of the United States, residingat Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Method of and Apparatus forMaking Continuous Lengths of Railway- Track Rails, of which thefollowing is a specification. 7

My invention has as its object the provision of means whereby jointsbetween sections of rail of a railway are avoided and a practicallyendless length of rail'is provided.

Heretofore it has been usual to construct a railway from a number ofshort sections of rail joined together and secured in position by meansof rail-chairs, fish-plates, and the like. It has also been usual andcustomary to connect together the ends of the sections of rail by theuse of plates placed on either side of the two meeting ends of the railsand applying an electric current to electrically weld said plates to thesides of the rails, and also the ends of the sections of rail have beenconnected and held together by means of what is known as a cast joint,which consists in casting or forming anlagglomerated mass of metalwhilein'amoltenstate about the sides of the meeting endportions of thesections of ,rail, which serves as a joint or brace on each side of thesaid meeting ends.

'It has been found in the use of these methods that expansion andcontraction or some unknown element or elements cause breakage anddislocation of the rails 'at or near the ends of the rails or of thecasting at the joint.

' Myinvention consists as aprocess or method in first providing sectionsof rail of suitable length, positioning two or more railsin properlocation relative to each other, the meeting ends of the rail-sectionsbeing separated to a greater or less degree, then filling in the spacebetween the rails at their ends with a suitable metal in a molten state,which in the act of fillin'g'in reduces the end portions of the meetingends of the sections of rail to a plastic, semiplastic, or moltencondition and which molten metal spreads and accumulates to a more orless degree about the exterior of the meeting ends of the sections ofrail, and finally subjecting the molten metal inand about the ends ofthe rail to ,a pressure which, in effect, causes the two independentsections of rail to become practically one continuous length, thisoperationbeing repeated, so that ultimately.onecontinuous undivided andendless length of rail is provided. V

' My invention, further, as a process or method consists in'fi'rstpositioning the independent sections of rail so that the same areseparated to a more Orlessdegree than filling in the space betweentherails at their ends with a suitable metal in a molten state, which inthe act of filling in reduces the end portions of the meeting ends ofthe section of rail to a plastic, semiplastic, or molten condition andwhich molten metal spreads and accumulates to a greater or less degreeabout the exterior of the said meeting end portions, which result informing and connecting the meeting ends together into one integral andcontinuous length of rail. p

My invention consists, further, in certain other features as a methodand in certain features of construction to be particularly described,reference being now had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1is a side elevation of the completed apparatus; shown mounted upon thecar. Fig. 2 is'a plan yiew of 'the's'ame. Fig. 3 is a detail viewshowing the,pressure-rolls in position upon the rail. Fig. 4 isasectional view on the line 1 1 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a sectional view onthe line 2 2 of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional View of the mold.

In carrying out my invention I mount the apparatus employedupon theplatform 15 of a car, which car is adapted to travel along, therailway-track the rails of which are being formed at the point of juncture of the meeting sections of rail. Mounted upon the car-platform 15 isa cupalo-furnace, in which a suitable metal is reduced to a liquidniolten condition. Separate sections of 'raila're'adj usted in positionupon the ties so that their meeting ends abut or are adjacentto eachother and are thus arranged in that position ordinarily assumed when themeeting ends of the rail-sections are joined together in the ordinarymanner. Mounted upon the car-platform 15 is a suitable prime mover 17inthis instance a steam-engine-which serves the purpose of actuating theapparatus by which the molten metal is subjected to pressure.

I will first describe the instrumentality by which the molten metal fromthe cupola-furnace is delivered to the point of jointure between themeeting ends of the sections of rail.

I provide a mold18, which is made up of two holding members 19 and 20,which members are pivoted or hinged together at 21 and mounted in amanner to be described. Secured within the holding members 19 and 20 arethe dies 21 and 22, which are preferably made from fire-brick and whichtherefore are adapted to receive the molten metal which is poured intothe end of the delivery-channel 22. These dies are made to conform tothe shape of the rail, and therefore will form about and hold betweenthe meeting ends of the rail and about the end areas thereof a mass ofmolten metal, the valves 23 and 24: controlling the ingress and egressof the molten metal. In order to perform this stage of the operation, itis simply necessary to position the holding members 19 and 20 of themold 18 upon either side of the meeting ends of sections of rail andthen open the valves 23 and 24- and pour a stream of molten metalbetween and about the said meeting ends of the rail-sections andpermitting the molten metal to flow in a stream upon and about themeeting and portions until the same are reduced to the desired molten,plastic, or semiplastic condition, when the valve 23 may be closed. Itis apparent that this molten metal so applied to the end portions 'ofthe rail will reduce the body of said end portions to a molten, plastic,or semiplastic condition and the mold will then shape the metal of therails and the added metal into the outline of a rail, so that at thispoint an integral connection is effected between the sections of rail,the added metal assimilating with and becoming a part of the metal ofthe rails, thus forming the two sections into one continuous, integral,and unbroken length. When this portion of the operation is accomplished,the clamp 25, which secures the holding members 19 and 20 together, isloosened, so that the said holding members may be swung apart and thecar advanced until the instrumentality for subjecting the molten metalor partially-cool plastic metal to pressure is brought into positioncoincident with the said molten or partially-cooled agglomerated mass ofmetal. I will now describe the apparatus by which this pressure isbrought to bear, which consists in two counterpart roll-holding hangers26 27, which are pivoted at 28 and carry the pressure-rolls 29 and 30,each of which rolls is of such conformation as to cause the plasticmetal between and about the ends of sections of rail to become virtuallya part of the rail and to roll the plastic metal at this point in such amanner as to form a continuous length between the two sections of rail.-When this operation is completed, the yoke 31 is removed and the twohangers 26 and 27 separated and held when not in use by the chains 30,as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3.

Both the molding apparatus and the rolling or pressure-applyingapparatus are mounted upon the car-platform 15, as shown in Figs. 1 and2, a traveler-bar 33 also constituting the pivot for the holding members19 and 20 of the mold 18 and the hangers 26 and 27 of the rollingapparatus. The rolling apparatus,which I will'designate generally at32,is reciprocated, by means of the prime mover 17, through theintermediate connections, consisting of an engine connecting-rod 33 andcrank 36 on the main shaft 35, Fig. 2, a gearwheel 38 being mounted onsaid drive-shaft 35, meshing with a gear-wheel 39, the shaft of whichoperates a crank 40, which in turn operates the connecting-rod 4.1,which reciprocates the rolling apparatus.

By reference to Fig. 2 it will be observed that the apparatus isduplicated on each side of the car-platform 15, so that the jointsbetween sections of rail on each side of the track may be treated at oneand the same time. In order to accomplish the desired result, it issimply necessary to lay the sections of rail in place and then, havingadvanced the car near to the point of juncture between said sections, toadjust the molding apparatus 18 along the traveler-bar 33 until the sameand its internal molding parts are brought opposite to the joint orjoints, when the holding members 19 and 20 may be locked together, andafter adjustment of the valves 23 and 24. the molten metal may be moldedbetween and about the joint. When this is accomplished and the holdingmembers unlocked and suspended by chains in the manner as shown in Fig.3, the car being properly adjusted, the plastic, semiplastic, or moltenmetal may be then rolled by the rolling apparatus 32, which isreciprocated in the manner described, and since the rolls 29 and 30conform to the outline of the rail it is evident that this rollingprocess so treats the joint at this point as to practically obliterateany joint and form a continuous length of rail between the two sectionsof rail and finally producing a railwaytrack having continuous lengthsof rail on each side thereof, except where it may be necessary to breakthe continuity of the track rail for switches, crossovers, and the like.

As is apparent from the foregoing description, the meeting ends of thesections of rail may be formed into an integral continuous length by theuse of the mold or other like instru mentality and the application ofthe molten metal in the mold to the meeting end portions of the sectionsof rail, in which case the end portions are not subjected to'pressure orrolled.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

IIO

1. A continuous rail for'street-car tracks, railways, &c., consisting ofrolled steel lengths connected byand alternating with relatively shortcast metal rail portions, the said relatively long rolled steel lengthsand the said intermediate cast portions being integral.

2. A continuous rail for street-railways, railroads, &c., consisting ofrolled steel portionsintegral with and alternating with intermediatecast portions.

3. The method of integrally connecting railway-rails which consists inpouring a stream of molten metal upon and between the meeting ends ofthe rails until they are heated to a plastic or weldable condition, andconfining a portion of such molten metal between the ends of the railsuntil it solidifies unitedly therewith.

4. The method of making a continuous length of rail for a railway-trackalong said track which method consists in first providing separatesections of rail, positioning two or more of said sections in place,filling molten metal between and about the meeting ends of the sectionsof rail and reducing the meeting end portions thereof to a plastic,semiplastic or molten condition whereby the added molten metalassimilates with and becomes a part of the meeting endportions of thesections of rail and then subjecting said end portions to pressurebefore said molten metal so filled in has hardened whereby the metal atthe point of juncture between the said sections is made to conform tothe outline of the rail and producing track rails which are continuousand endless.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLIE E. MARK.

Witnesses:

CHAS. O. BULKLEY, W. T. TOMPKINS.

